26.3.07

Yesterday we were privileged to be at a concert given by a couple of visiting Hungarian opera singers, Eva Toth & Viktor Lablanc, who are touring Australia. The singers did not only give us a treat of Hungarian and Austrian opera music, but they also gave us some Gypsy folk music that was close to their heart.

The cherry was of course their ability to act their parts well, and the display of love that emanated between them was obvious. Not only that, but Eva is also very good looking – like a blond doll, with long curly mountains of hair, and gowned to perfection with crinoline dresses of the period in white, red or blue. And Viktor – in his black suit and white shirt, and his very Gypsy looks complementing her beautifully. A treat indeed.

21.3.07

On our return from the USA we settled in Perth Western Australia (WA for short), where we lived till 1988.Our time in WA led us through the good and the bad, through achievements and destruction, through happiness and shear pain and dissolutions.

The clinic we built from nothing has done extremely well and the work was interesting and fulfilling. Gerry has broadened the range of treatment, and did what will be called in laymen terms - ‘miracles’; getting some spastics children back to normal, and sterile women to conceive.

At the beginning we lived at the back of the clinic and then moved to a home of our own where the children could have a proper home.We had the mandatory string of animals, including an Alsatian bitch that had eleven beautiful pups in her first and only litter; AND, we nearly had some field mice our Gill and friend decided to breed!

To get recharged, we went from time to time overseas, visiting countries as far apart as Brazil & Argentina are from Europe, South Africa from China and so on, meeting and learning the ways people live in those countries.

At the end of 1972 we went for a year to Israel, where

the 1973 Yom Kippur war surprised while visiting Germany, leaving the children with different friends in Israel.

A short while after our return from Israel, all hell came lose and we experienced several calamities, one of which was a car accident that rendered Gerry unfit for work, and left us nearly destitute.

However, during that time we also had some very rewarding and interesting occurrences: We fostered a teenager for a while & built an 18.3 feet steel ketch.We became detectives & lawyers of sorts during the car accident compensation trial that took 3 sitting and ended a year & a half later & were blackmailed as well. We lived on board our yacht for 3 years, and during the America’s cap that was in Fremantle WA.

The book ends with us leaving WA in 1988 to live in the Eastern Australia where we are living since.

14.3.07

I am very excited. I could not believe it. My book
"From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country"
has gone up in its Amazon.com rating meteorically.
Within 2 weeks it went from 830,00+ to 18,300 a couple of days ago. (worst about 2 million, best 1) and I was shaking all over.
However, those rating do change every few minute once a book has broken the 100,000 mark. Rating is calculated on various factors, one of which is the number of book sold. Now I am in total state of anxiety, looking at the rating several times a day...
Yes. I do remember that I need to tell you about the 4th book in - From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country - which is about Western Australia. I promise to do so soon

12.3.07

We have a Poetry Club on the Gold Coast for poets and the lovers of poetry. We meet every 3rd Sunday of the month in one of the most beautiful spots you can imagine.It is on the veranda of a teahouse that is sat in a tropical garden with colourful birds tweeting all around us.We have afternoon tea served and listen to poetry our members read, some of which are very good.

The other day our Bob read a poem you must read.It has a message I completely concur with, so I have added it here.Bob also played the Didgeridoo for us.An aboriginal instrument that is very hard to use, and he has done a wonderful job on it.

Also, our Joan has made a web page for our Poetry club and I am inserting its link. Go and have a look, and if you live in on the Gold Coast or nearby, why not join us, even if you are only a listener.

Here is Bob's poem:

Being Old
By Bob Dever

I have a regular chats with m grandkids
Where tantalizing subjects just seem to unfold
The other day one of them innocently asked
‘Grandpa, do you like being old?”

a ticklish question if ever I heard one
My answer had to leave them with no doubt
I didn’t have to agonise over it for long
I guess mu feelings, just flooded out.

I would never trade my amazing friends
For less grey hair or a latter belly
I’ve shared a rewarding life, with wonderful memories
Not like that rubbish served up on the telly.

As I’ve aged, I have become my own friend
Yes, I reckon I’ve become kinder to my self
I’m less critical and more tolerant of other points of view
Quite content to be blessed with good health.

I don’t chide myself or eating that extra bickie
Or for not making my bed when I oughta
Or buying that silly cement goanna, I really didn’t need
That looks so avant garde out on my veranda.

I am entitled to overeat and love something sweet
And to be messy, or extravagant with a little fling
I have seen too many dear friends, leave this world too soon
Before they understood the freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read till late
And having a nanny nap doesn’t mean your over the hill
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tones of the 50’s
And if I wish to shed a tear, over lost love, I will.

I know that sometimes, I can be quite forgetful
But then again, some things in life are better forgotten
I eventually remember the really important things
And learnt how to cop we my heart was broken.

How can your heart not break, when you lose a loved one
Or when you see a small child suffering
But broken hearts are what give us strength and compassion
And the experience to cope with understanding.

I am blessed to have lived long enough for mu hair to turn grey
To have my youthful laugh lines forever etched in to my face
So many have died before their hair turned silver
So many never laughed, before they lost the race.

I find as you get older, it is easier to be positive
You care less about what others think when you make a stand
I don’t question myself, I’ve earned the right to be wrong
Confident my loving family will understand.

So to answer the question, I like being old
It has set me free and I am at ease with that
I like the person that I have become
I can say yes… or I can say no… and mean it.

I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here
I’ll not waste time lamenting, of what could have been
Or worrying about what will be, as it certainly will be
For the time that’s left, my mates and I can still dream

For the fest time in my life, I don’t have to give a reason
To do the things that I feel, I want to do
I have put in a lot of time helping other people
So I can be a bit selfish, and not fell guilt too.

If I want to play games on the computer all day
Or lie on the couch and watch old movies then I might
And if I don’t want to go to the beach or go shopping
Then I consider that I have earned that right.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young ones these days
They face a far different world from the one I knew
When I was growing up we were taught to fear the law
You always, looked after your mate in a blue.

We respected the old…the flag… and our country
There was a lot more to life than just building wealth
And I never felt the need to use filthy language
While simply trying to express myself.

I am grateful to have been born, when I was
Into a kinder, gentler world, with principles to uphold
So the answer to your original question is
Yes…I really do like… being this old,

8.3.07

Having the hospital for 4 years, and my husband Gerry having a dead end flying job, we needed a change.This need landed us in Davenport Iowa, which is located on the Mississippi River, in Midwest USA.

Here we did not only studied Chiropractic and related subject, but also learned how to live in deep winters, through some hair raising and funny experiences.

I loved the US and I cherish the life we had in this exciting country. We gained not only new professions and a new baby, but we also grew as human beings, and in our understanding of all that is around us; and we are forever in your debt, America…

3.3.07

Before I continue with the 3rd book in my - From the promised Land to the Lucky Country - which covers the period I lived in the USA, I like to tell you about the talk I gave last Wednesday in the Runaway Bay Library on the Gold Coast to the Sight Impaired Readers’ group, about my life:

We had 25 people attending and the meeting was great.Even though I lived in 3 countries each in a different continent, most of the question and interest centered around life in the "Land of Israel" (Palestine) under the British Mandate and Israel’s war of independence etc.

Wherever I go I find many people wanting to know about Israel, as it seems never to get off the TV screens.Unfortunately, much of the information is misinformation.Israel has much more to offer than wars and fights with the Arabs, and I welcome the inquiries I get.Not only that, but I have posted on the right hand column a list of some of Israel’s achievements for you to read.

Technorati connection

my bloglog

Link to

About Me

My parents left Germany in 1933 when I was 2. I grew up in the than Palestine, in the countryside, in Tel-Aviv during WWII, and in a kibbutz high school.
Like others of my generation, I lived in a world that aspired to create a Jewish state within the borders of old Israel; and thus, I was a member of a youth movement and of the Jewish youth underground.
During Israel's War of independence I was responsible for my brigade's medical supplies, served on ambulances, and in the field hospital of the Negev front. After the war I was stationed in a demilitarised Border post at the foot of the Golan Heights.
In 1953, graduating a military nursing school, I got married, and worked with immigrants from Bagdad.
Due to economic necessity my husband and I immigrated to Australia in 1956, where we opened our own small hospital.
After studying in the USA in the 1960's we opened a chiropractic clinic in WA where I worked as a Clinics' administrator and a chiropractic radiologist.
I learnt to fly and took part in building a 64ft boat.
Nowadays, I write, paint & use the computer. I like walking, swimming & canoeing.

Israel"s achievements

Having to be on alert at all times and in fighting mode, did not and does not stop the Israelis from living a ‘Normal life’ and achieving great things.The land that was desert and swamps full of illnesses like Malaria & Trachoma and more is today a modern green place, full of trees and flowers.Not only that but it is also a power place to many new inventions that benefit mankind every day.I am attaching a list I received sometime ago, which is NOT complete, to show you some of Israel’s achievements.

Here it is:

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay additional claim to the following:

The cell phone and Voice mail technology was developed in Israel & AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology, Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel & Motorola has Motorola Israel.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita, as well as the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world & produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats, and has the fourth largest Air Force in the world (after the U.S., Russia and China).

In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in theworld, except the U.S. (3,500 – 4000 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 4,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world - apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, it has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.It is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

Her $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbours combined.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union).

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at risk in Ethiopia, to safety inIsrael.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

It has more museums per capita than any other country, and has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as"conflict free."

It is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

In Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U.S. hospitals, 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera, helps doctors diagnose heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as well.

Israel produced 4 Nobel price winners in the last 4 years – 2 in Mathematics & 2 in Economics.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave Desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.